Cost of visiting a GP

holyhead · 30-10-2019 9:35am #1

It cost €55 to visit my GP in a small town. This seems steep. Obviously health is wealth so it does pay to go. Is their merit in the state paying half that to encourage people to visit their GP? I imagine the cost of GP visits puts people off going.

Dr. Bre · 30-10-2019 9:37am

My GP is 65 Euro. Getting fleeced so I try not visit unless really ill

ninebeanrows · 30-10-2019 9:37am

You get half back with any reasonable health insurance.

You can also get 20% back through tax, but i agree they should rebate at 40% tax rate, that would be fairer,

There are online docs now for straightforward stuff and only around 30 bucks or free with health provider

gmisk · 30-10-2019 9:38am

55 is cheap IMO 65/70 seems to be norm in Dublin

Wesser · 30-10-2019 9:39am

I paid e70 recently for a plumber to spend 6 minutes fixing a leaky tap. GP looks like good value in comparison. might do something that saves my life .

holyhead · 30-10-2019 9:41am

I get 10 free doctor visits on my Vhi plan but not everybody can afford health insurance

The J Stands for Jay · 30-10-2019 9:41am

Sleety_Rain wrote: »

You get half back with any reasonable health insurance.

You can also get 20% back through tax, but i agree they should rebate at 40% tax rate, that would be fairer,

There are online docs now for straightforward stuff and only around 30 bucks or free with health provider

Hello! Would you be interested in this bridge I have for sale?

the beer revolu · 30-10-2019 9:42am

Wesser wrote: »

I paid e70 recently for a plumber to spend 6 minutes fixing a leaky tap. GP looks like good value in comparison. might do something that saves my life .

Virtually no GP will do a house call.
Did you bring the leaky tap to the plummer's office?

Beeping Kitchen Appliances · 30-10-2019 9:42am

The money the state has comes from taxing the citizenry. Whether healty or sick. So people end up paying either way. Except people who get doctor visits for free.

EmmetSpiceland · 30-10-2019 9:43am

holyhead wrote: »

It cost €55 to visit my GP in a small town. This seems steep. Obviously health is wealth so it does pay to go. Is their merit in the state paying half that to encourage people to visit their GP? I imagine the cost of GP visits puts people off going.

Mine is €60, H. I’d only be going to see them mainly to get a “sick cert“ for work.

I’m pretty sure there’s one young doc who is in cahoots with the chemist next door. If he prescribes you an antibiotic he’ll throw in a steroid and maybe some nose drops to go with them so you’re in for another 25-30 quid when you go in there.

Still, that’s better than the one who tells you it’ll “clear up on its own” so you end up back there two weeks later almost unable to breath properly.

But it’s all about the “cert” for me.

30-10-2019 9:43am

I'd rather pay it than have the situation like the NHS where people will go with the slightest sniffle because it's free and it takes 3 or 4 days to get an appointment.

Ragnar Lothbrok · 30-10-2019 9:48am

I grew up in England with the NHS, so the notion of having to pay for a GP visit appalled me when I first came to live in Ireland. However, my opinion has changed over the years - charging for the service ensures that time wasters are kept to a minimum.

Most of the less well off are entitled to medical cards or GP visit cards, as are many people who suffer a long-term illness, so therefore very few people who genuinely need to visit the GP have to miss out.

However, I believe that all students in full time education should be given a GP visit card and that all children under 18 should have a full medical card, regardless of their parents' income.

Plumbthedepths · 30-10-2019 10:11am

The cost of the GP makes people who have to pay full whack think have I a cold or ebola, whereas the Medical/GP card holder throws on the jacket and rock up no matter what.

Plumbthedepths · 30-10-2019 10:12am

holyhead wrote: »

I get 10 free doctor visits on my Vhi plan but not everybody can afford health insurance

It ain't free, it's part of your annual premium.

Geuze · 30-10-2019 11:17am

In France GPs charge 25.

Everybody has health insurance, which covers 70% of the GP fee.

So most people pay 7.50 effectively.

the beer revolu · 30-10-2019 11:24am

I despise paying a GP, I always feel cheated - it's usually just for a prescription that I already know I need. It just never seems like value for money - perhaps because I've never found a really good GP (thankfully, I rarely need a doctor). And why do I always have to wait at least 20 minutes for a scheduled appointment?

Conversely, I think €50 for a good physiotherapist is a bargain for 45-50 minutes of hands on work and expert advice and I walk in at the appointed time.

ToddyDoody · 30-10-2019 11:26am

But you can't put a price on your health?

Cordell · 30-10-2019 11:30am

The cost of healthcare is completely reasonable in Ireland, there are other problems, much bigger ones, but healthcare is not expensive.

Muahahaha · 30-10-2019 11:31am

My GP is 60 which seems par for the course. I do think it would be a good idea for the overall health of the nation that everyone gets one free health check a year where their bloods are taken and other tests done to detect illnesses early and thus avoid more costly hospital treatment down the line.

I think GPs in general are reasonable for what they do. What you have to watch out for is the pharmacists, where I live there are three pharmacies in the town and they are all owned by the same guy- he went on a Celtic Tiger buying spree, probably to prevent competition and to ensure he has a drug cartel in the town. Got some meds off him a while back and it came to 78, was surprised at the counter but stupidly paid it. Next day I rang a Boots pharmacy about 15km away from me and they quoted 47 for the exact same meds. Never again will I darken the door of the local pharmacist, he is just ripping off an entire town.

30-10-2019 11:32am

About 2.1 million people are eligible for either medical or GP visit cards - that's almost 45% of our population! I suspect that most of the remaining 55% are the hard working taxpayers who not only have to pay through the nose for seeing their GPs/obtaining prescription drugs, etc. but are also paying for the 45% people who aren't paying!

What sticks in my craw are the wealthy over 70's who own their homes so don't have any mortgage/rent or work-related expenses, but are still eligible for Medical Cards due to the obscenely generous means test threshold.

Cordell · 30-10-2019 11:35am

It's more expensive to treat them in the hospital when their condition becomes serious so it's better and cheaper to offer free GP care.

30-10-2019 11:36am

Mine went from €50 to €60 in the past year, so a rise of 20% is very steep. My alternative is to go to a gp a bit further away who doesn't have a secretary (never mind 2 or 3) and keeps the cost at €45. I get the same amount back from health insurance regardless of how much I pay. I suspect one justification they have for raising the price is to compensate for the Under-6 GP visits card, for which they get €75 or so per child per year; I was certainly bringing my little ones to the gp for 5-10 times per year in their first two years of life so I have some sympathy for gps in this regard. But essentially, they've just shifted the cost of that government policy upon their fee-paying patients. One more squeeze on the squeezed middle.

Now, if I didn't have to endure that poxy commercial radio noise in every surgery waiting room, that would be a real blessing. Perhaps the gps (and dentists) of Ireland could soundproof their surgeries so they don't have to hide their private conversations with patients by imposing all that noise upon those of us waiting next door in the waiting room?

reg114 · 30-10-2019 11:36am

the beer revolu wrote: »

I despise paying a GP, I always feel cheated - it's usually just for a prescription that I already know I need. It just never seems like value for money - perhaps because I've never found a really good GP (thankfully, I rarely need a doctor). And why do I always have to wait at least 20 minutes for a scheduled appointment?

Conversely, I think €50 for a good physiotherapist is a bargain for 45-50 minutes of hands on work and expert advice and I walk in at the appointed time.

When it comes to physios I can tell you from personal experience that it is prudent to have an mri on the injury before attending a physio. Certain symptoms can mimic a variety of injuries and you remove any doubt or misdiagnosis by getting a scan .

On the GP front my GP is 40 quid and charges an extra tenner for bloods

Athdara · 30-10-2019 11:37am

€30 for my GP in a small rural village. He would have a “Rural doctor incentive scheme” payment so an extra payment that town doctors wouldn’t have & the HSE provides the surgery building but his attitude is that his “skills aren’t worth that much”- his words. So much so- he is now very busy with people leaving the town GPs and registering with him.
Brilliant doctor

Lily_Aldrin7 · 30-10-2019 11:38am

I find it way too expensive, hard to afford on low income. I had to go to Caredoc once in the evening because I had hand foot and mouth virus and I needed a cert for work - I had to pay €70. My GP was so busy, the earliest appointment I could’ve gotten to was in a week...
I knew I had the virus because I got it from my child and I didn’t need anything at all from the doctor, just a signature on a piece of paper worth €70...
I’m glad children can go for free till they are 8 now and hopefully they won’t get sick too often after that ðŸ€ž

HeidiHeidi · 30-10-2019 11:39am

I think the GP fees are fairly reasonable overall, esp considering I suspect their insurance costs are stratospheric.

What I can't abide (and sorry for a slight derail) is that it's so difficult to shop around for medicines. Obviously everything is behind the counter, so there's no possibility of checking prices before buying without being a complete PITA. And then head off to the next chemist and do it all again? Or ring around every chemist in town to see who's dear and who's cheaper?

Usually when I need drugs the last thing I want is the hassle of trying to shop around!

How do others manage this? I have absolutely no idea if my local chemist (whom I have great time for) is completely ripping me off or not.....

corner of hells · 30-10-2019 11:40am

Muahahaha wrote: »

My GP is 60 which seems par for the course. I do think it would be a good idea for the overall health of the nation that everyone gets one free health check a year where their bloods are taken and other tests done to detect illnesses early and thus avoid more costly hospital treatment down the line.

I think GPs in general are reasonable for what they do. What you have to watch out for is the pharmacists, where I live there are three pharmacies in the town and they are all owned by the same guy- he went on a Celtic Tiger buying spree, probably to prevent competition and to ensure he has a drug cartel in the town. Got some meds off him a while back and it came to 78, was surprised at the counter but stupidly paid it. Next day I rang a Boots pharmacy about 15km away from me and they quoted 47 for the exact same meds. Never again will I darken the door of the local pharmacist, he is just ripping off an entire town.

A 30 km round trip to avoid paying 31 euros ?

wakka12 · 30-10-2019 11:43am

ToddyDoody wrote: »

But you can't put a price on your health?

But you can put a price on when you walk in just looking for a prescription you know you need and they talk to you for two minutes and then charge you 65 euro. It should be priced based on the the time you spent in there. So many auld biddies in there chatting ****e for a solid half hour about every ache and pain to their doctors

Plumbthedepths · 30-10-2019 11:46am

HeidiHeidi wrote: »

I think the GP fees are fairly reasonable overall, esp considering I suspect their insurance costs are stratospheric.

What I can't abide (and sorry for a slight derail) is that it's so difficult to shop around for medicines. Obviously everything is behind the counter, so there's no possibility of checking prices before buying without being a complete PITA. And then head off to the next chemist and do it all again? Or ring around every chemist in town to see who's dear and who's cheaper?

Usually when I need drugs the last thing I want is the hassle of trying to shop around!

How do others manage this? I have absolutely no idea if my local chemist (whom I have great time for) is completely ripping me off or not.....

When you go to the Pharmacy to have a prescription filled ask is there a generic version of the prescribed medicine. The pharmacist is required to give you the generic if one is available.
Doctors usually prescribe by brand name.

shesty · 30-10-2019 11:51am

wakka12 wrote: »

But you can put a price on when you walk in just looking for a prescription you know you need and they talk to you for two minutes and then charge you 65 euro. It should be priced based on the the time you spent in there. So many auld biddies in there chatting ****e for a solid half hour about every ache and pain to their doctors

Have very mixed feelings about this.One the one hand, the best doctor in our practice gives people the time, and is the best doctor for that reason.On the other hand, she is impossible to get an appointment with ,and then when you do, you could be waiting over an hour before you get in to see her.However one of our other local doctors only has ten min appointment slots and no more...he will not give you more time than that and quite often will only discuss one thing with you and nothing more.I feel the first doctor needs to manage her time better but equally, everyone wants to see her because she will listen to them.It's a tough one to call.

Pixel Eater · 30-10-2019 11:51am

A dental check up is free and a cleaning is only €15. Same for optician check-up. Maybe they could do something like that for GPs; a once a year visit for free (or a small fee, like €15) as long as you have the required amount of PRSI contributions.

Cost of visiting a GP

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